


Neon Gravestones

by starstruck_platforms



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), M/M, Suicide, Third Year Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27486457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck_platforms/pseuds/starstruck_platforms
Summary: In the world of Dema, it's kill yourself or be killed.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Kudos: 3
Collections: Haikyuu Angst Week 2020





	1. A Form Of Aggression?

When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t relieved when I woke up in that gray room again. The gray walls and white furniture didn’t reassure me at all.

“Time to wake up. It’s a brand new day.” I murmur to myself, stretching while sitting on the edge of my bed. The only shred of color is my dark blue hair, which was matted in the back. I should probably fix that at some point.

My feet slide inside of the gray flats next to the door, and press the buttons in the door. The button was green next to the number panel.

  1. 22\. 96.



“ _ Door opening. _ ” the robotic door said, sliding open instantly. The room across from me was open as well.

I walked out into the hall, and jumped when I saw my bishop, Listo, standing next to the door. His ivy green eyes looked down at me, as if I’m inferior to him.

“Took you long enough. Let’s go.”

I nodded silently and followed him down the hall. Everything was black and grey in Dema; ever since I got here, everything out in the real world has been monochromatic like a movie from the 1940s.

We walked past the cafeteria, which was currently vacant. It was wide and spacious, big enough for a church choir and orchestra.  When we left my wing and started going towards the tall Gothic church ahead of us, I heard some shouting from the eastern wing. 

“NO! I DON’T WANNA GO TO THE PIT!” a short male with a blonde strand in his brown hair screamed. He was being dragged away into the Death Pit by two guards. One of the bishops was watching him intently.  Why does he look familiar…?

“Hurry up. We’re late for church already.” Listo hissed. “Uh, yeah.”

We walked inside of the church, and I took a seat in one of the back rows. The bishop from earlier stormed inside a few seconds after, and stood next to Sacarver.

I take a look at the people in my row. Everyone had a neutral expression on their face, and sitting still like a statue. They had boring hair colors, and boring eye shades that aren’t even worth mentioning.

But suddenly, I got distracted by a boy with ruffled hair a few rows ahead of me. He was fidgeting and bouncing slightly in his seat. He was kinda cute, I guess.

He took a glance at me, and smiled slightly. Once he did, his entire being overflowed with color, like an artist starting their canvas with a bright watercolor paint. His hair turned into a bright orange shade, and his pale skin glowed into a perfect beige.

For the first time, my heart began to race quickly without exercise. It was having a marathon, but just from gazing at this boy. My face was hot too, when it’s usually cold to the touch.

Who is he, and why is he making me feel this way?

I give my attention to the circled bishops, who were pouring water over the neon white frame in the center. I’m not sure what they’re doing, all I really care about the colorful boy a few rows ahead.

Once the ritual ended, I dashed out of the church immediately. I didn’t stick around for my daily tasks, as I am too flustered to even function.

What is up with that boy? Why did he magically turn into everything that I could possibly want in a potential partner? I have so many questions, yet no answers.

“I saw you staring at me.”

I turn to my left and jump from his sudden appearance. He was leaning against the wall, looking up at me innocently. He’s shorter than me, by a lot.  Why is he so damn cute?

“I was just bored, that’s all.”

“As if you get bored. You’re always focused during the ritual.”

“Am I? How long have you been here?”

“Got here yesterday night. Pretty sure it started when my boyfriend broke up with me.” He began to fiddle with his fingers, while shuffling his feet on the gravel.  Boyfriend… who would break up with someone as angelic as him?

“Why did he break up with you?”

“He admitted to cheating on me. I feel like he’s here somewhere, I just haven’t found him yet,” He’s so… delicate.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Kageyama.”

“Kageyama… you sound familiar for some reason.” His hands were small, like I could crush them with a single palm; but I wanted to hold it instead.

“What about you?”

He jumped slightly, and looked away with pink cheeks. “Um, my name’s Shoyo Hinata. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Um, you’re fine.” I want to make him mine, and punch that ex-boyfriend of his. Wait a minute, what is with this possessiveness? I’m never like this, ever.

Both of us get tense when one of the bishops walks towards us. When he offered his hand, it was light pink—Sacarver.

“Um, I’ll see you later Kageyama.” Hinata takes his hand and follows him, walking towards the northern side of the city.

He looked so… charming. I hope I see him again outside of church.  Another person from Listo’s wing—I think his name was Terushima— jogged out of the church and handed me a piece of papers. 

“Here are your tasks for the day. Start from top to bottom in order, or Listo will send your privileged ass to the Pit.”

I remained silent as I was given the slip. He’s just jealous that I’m Listo’s “teacher’s pet”.

“Time for work.” I murmur with a sigh, heading to the east wing.

* * *

When I woke up, it was the same as before. My room was gray, though it was more cluttered with stuff than my room in Dema.

“Tobio, are you awake? It’s time for school.” Miwa said, knocking on my door.

“Yeah, I’m awake.”

“Then turn your alarm off, it woke me up.”

I looked at the tiny clock, which was vibrating manically. I can barely hear the blaring sound, it was muffled in a way.

I tap the top and get out of bed. I change into my school uniform and leave through the front door without eating breakfast—my appetite has been nonexistent for the past week or so.

When I reached the front gate of Karasuno, a familiar voice called my name. “Kageyama, wait for me!”

Why does that voice sound so familiar?

I turned around, and my heart started doing the thing from before. Hinata caught up to me, and punched my arm.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“You left me behind at our meeting spot! I had to chase after you with my bike, you’re so mean!”

“Whatever boke. Let’s get to the club room.”

“I’m not that stupid, Bakayama.”  We bickered back and forth until we got to the club room. I changed into my t-shirt, and took a glance at Hinata.

An acute wave of tension went over me when I looked at his back. The perfect skin was scattered with scratch marks and bruises, along with bite marks on his shoulders.

“Hinata, what happened to your back?” I have never been this disturbed, other than that one time when I was forced to watch someone get ripped to pieces by the vultures in Dema.

He pulls his shirt in a downward motion and mumbles, “Just fell off of my bike, that’s all.”

“There are fucking bite marks on your shoulders! It wasn’t a bike fall.”

His head drooped, his floppy bangs blocking his eyes. In a choked up voice, he said, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Hinata ran out of the room, leaving me inside. He tells me everything, what would he be hiding from me..?

I put my shorts on and follow him out to the gym. The door was wide open, and I could hear him talking to one of the club members.

I took a peek inside, and he was having a normal conversation with Nishinoya about something. I can still see the light purple bite through the open gap between his neck and shoulder.

He’ll spit it out eventually, I just know it.


	2. Keep Your Wits

The day faded away like usual. I was barely paying attention in class (but was taking notes anyways, when necessary), I was feeling like shit all day whilst contemplating when my life would end.

It’ll probably be a gunshot to the head or a murder, one of the two. I had dreams about it.

“Kageyama, wake up. You have to clean up the back room, remember?” Ennoshita remarks, placing his palm on my shoulder.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.” I walked away from him before he asked any questions. The gym doors closed when I went to the back room, and my heart rate began to play again.

“What are you just standing in there for? We have to put the net away.” Hinata said, gently pulling at my shirt.

I turn around and pull him inside, pulling the doors in order to pin him. “W-What are you doing? G-Get off, Bakayama!”

“Tell me what happened to your back.”

“No! That doesn’t matter! I wanna go home, come on!”

“Tell me Hinata. We tell each other everything, what is up with you?” I could barely see his blush, due to the dim sunlight shining in from behind me.

He began to get tense; his shoulders raised, and his hands began to grip at his arms. “I’m sorry… it’s still new. Just feeling like shit, that’s all.”

I lowered my arms when he cursed. “What’s up?”

He bites his lip, and suddenly hugs me. My face got hot like a furnace, and my entire body became frozen. Do I hug him back?

“I’m not sure what to do, Kageyama.” he says, sniffling after. With shaky arms, I return the hug.

“You can tell me anything Hinata.” I whisper, toying with his unkempt locks. So fluffy..

He grips onto my shirt and mumbles something into my shirt; I should back off for the moment.

Time passed when he finally decided to stop crying into my shirt. We had to sit down on the floor (well, he got to sit on my lap) due to my legs going numb.

He rubbed his eyes with his palms and said, “Sorry.”

“You’re fine.” What I kinda hate is that he’s sitting right next to my crotch, which isn’t very helpful with the whole crush thing going on.

“Yesterday was… rough. Can I trust you?” We locked eyes, and I got entranced with his puppy dog eyes. Shit, I think this is more than just a crush.

If this is love, I’m going to off myself.

“O-Of course.”

He sighs and bits his lip. “Remember Atsumu from Inarizaki?”

“Yeah.” What does that foxy former third-year have to do with this?

“We’ve been dating for two years, up until a week ago. And yesterday, he…” Tears began to gather in his eyes, and he tried to wipe them away.

“H-He went to m-my house a-and attacked me. H-He broke into my room w-when I g-got home from p-practice and p-pinned me to my bed…”

I lean forward to envelop his small frame. My guilt punched me in the gut a million times, as my brain unnecessarily proceeded to tell his story.

“I’m sorry.” I mumble into his neck. Hinata gripped onto my shirt again, and sobbed into my shoulder. It was loud, but I didn’t care.

Why must the only scrape of color have to suffer so much? That’s what makes my blood boil, and I will punch Atsumu in the fucking face when I see him next.

Forget about the relationship bull. This is time for revenge.

“Um, thanks for taking care of me when I was ugly crying.” Hinata said as he held onto the handlebars of his bike. We packed up our nightly tasks in the gym after he was done with his little meltdown about twenty minutes ago.

We’re nearing the crossroads now. But who knows, maybe I’ll see him in Dema tonight.

“It was no problem. I was just helping out my best friend, that’s all.” I say, pausing at the center of the double roads.

“It feels like I can only tell you about things like that though, and I’m happy that you listen. Just, remember to do the same thing, okay?”

“I will, promise.” I lie through my teeth. Those cherry blitz lips of his are currently hogging my attention; they’ve been enchanting my attention ever since he told me his story.

Hinata bites his bottom lips and gets on his toes, kissing me gently. I was frozen, yet somehow I was lightly pushing my lips towards his.

What is wrong with me?! What is wrong with him?! Why do his lips taste like strawberry paradise?!

He pulls away and gets on his bike, slightly blushing. “Um, thanks again.”

Without saying anything else, he drove away. I stood still, unable to turn around and take the route home.

HUUUUH?!

* * *

I reunited with Hinata when I spotted him organizing books in the library. He didn't see me when I walked by, and casually checked out the aisle next to his.

I scanned the various books in front of me, though all of them shared the same topic: Vialism. The books were neat, and shared the red, black, and white aesthetic on the cover and sleeve. I reached to the end of the shelf, and saw a pure black sleeve with no clear author on the sleeve.

"What did you find?" I jump from Hinata's sudden appearance. He was standing next to me, peering at the blank sleeve.

"Stop doing that, boke."

"You don't have to be mean in Dema too, y'know."

"Whatever." I pulled out the book from its tight spot, and grew curious about the cover. It was blank as well.

"What do you think this is?" Hinata asked.

"Some type of journal, I think." I open it to take a look at the dusty pages, and find the first entry inside. It appeared to be pasted in, as the text was typed.

**CLANCY_S JOURNAL**

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤.  _ 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬? _ 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩.

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰’𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞-𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲.

𝐊𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚’𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐊𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐊𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞.

~ _ 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝓎 _

“So, what does all of this mean?” Hinata asked. 

How is he not shocked by this information?  Dema is a trap? What would this colorless city of wonder be a trap for?

“Clancy had the same thoughts as me. Lately I’ve been wondering what has been behind the walls,” Hinata said, lowering himself down to sit on the floor.

I sit next to him and drop the journal. “My beliefs… how could it be a lie?”

Hinata takes the book and opens to the second page. “We might find out more about Dema if we keep reading this.”

The entry was much shorter this time, only containing a single printed out paragraph.

𝐓𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚, 𝐭 𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐭’ 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨 𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 “𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞,” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐟 𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭 𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐜 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩 𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮 𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐢 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐩 𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚, 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟; 𝐀 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬.

~ _ 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝓎 _

That's odd, there are letters missing. Y, O, U...

"You see the missing letters too, right?" I point out. A somber expression was on Hinata's face when I checked on him, who slowly nodded.

"It says 'you are still sleeping'." he said.

"Is something wrong? You aren't acting like yourself." I'm worried about him... his sudden mood change had me unsettled.

“I want to go.” Hinata muttered. His response made my eyes widen. “Leave Dema? Why?”

“It’s just that… my curiosity is uncontainable. I wanna know what the vultures see, outside of their feeding ground.” I didn’t think that he would want to leave… and I’m tempted to join him.

“We should hold onto the journal for now. It may prove to be useful in the long run.” I close the book, and my palm goes numb on top of his hand.

The cheerful sunshine giggles and turns his hand, intertwining his fingers with mine.

“I believe in us. Who knows, it could be a better life out there.” he said, his soft voice barely leaving behind an echo. He places his head on my shoulder, and lightly rubs my hand with his thumb.

“Maybe.” I’m tempted to kiss him again; I need to feel those lips again.

“This place makes me feel down, all the time. It makes me wonder if I’m ever enough to keep on living.”

“You should feel great. That’s how I feel whenever I come here.” I said bluntly. Hinata removes his hand from mine and lifts his head.

“What? I don’t want to feel this way, don’t you get it?”

Oh god, I fucked up. “Um, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”

Hinata rolls his eyes and stands up. “Time is almost up. See you later.”

“Wait!” I weakly raised my hand to stop him, but he continued to walk away. I punch the ground angrily and dig into my arm.  Blood dripped onto the carpet as my self-loathing took over, but for just a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the journal entries from clancy do not belong to me. all of his words come from tyler joseph.


	3. Underneath the Insane Asylum

When I walked inside of the club room, Hinata was absent. Even when I set foot into the gym, he glared at me for a moment before returning to his conversation.

I wish the negativity that took place in Dema STAYED in Dema, but we can’t have everything. I’ll talk to him when lunch comes around; it’ll take him away from his friends, but I will not lose him like this.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, I left class and caught the attention from a pair of girls. They were chatting amongst themselves previously.

“May we help you?” a girl asked.

“I was wondering if Hinata was in today.”

“Yeah, he’s with his friends right now. You can go in, if you want.” the other one replied. I nod and peep my head inside of the room, and there he was.

Chattering amongst his friends like I didn’t exist… I wish I could make him smile like that. His smiles in Dema are different; more fake, I suppose.

“Hinata, you have a visitor.” one of his friends said. He turned towards me, and I got palpitations again.

He raised his brow and huffed, looking away with a pout. I sigh and say, “It’s an emergency.”

“Yeahhh, go with your boyfriend Hinata.” his friend mocked, causing the other to smirk. Hinata rolled his eyes and stood up. 

We walked to the courtyard in silence, until he snapped. “So, what do you want?”

“The Clancy journal. Do you have it?”

“Why would I have it? It only exists in Dema. Did you only ask about that?”

“No, I… I wanted to apologize for last night. I’ve been thinking about it all day, and it just continued to bug me.”

His puppy dog eyes are bothering me, but in a good way. They’re so cute… he’s so cute.

“I’m waiting for your apology.”

“S-Sorry.”

His nasty glare vanished in the blink of an eye. The gleeful beam quickly returned, as well as the contagious sunshine smile.

“Forgiven! Was that all?”

That was fast. “No, there’s more. I’m concerned about you wanting to leave Dema… you know, going beyond the walls and stuff.”

We sit down on the bench. “Oh, you’re still worried… why wouldn’t you want to leave though? Don’t you want to see what could be behind the walls?”

Will he even understand where I’m coming from? He’s just as naive when it comes to foreign concepts.

“I just don’t feel the same as you and Clancy. Dema is my home beyond reality, and Vialism is the only belief that I truly trust. I believe that we will move on to a better place if we stay in Dema, and obey the bishops’ order.”

Hinata bites his lip, and leans in closer. “Let your curiosity overtake you like mine did, Kageyama.”

Solace was the new emotion when he kissed me. My hand cupped his cheek, and fiddled with strands of his hair.

We separate and stare at each other… It felt like it would last for the next millenia.

“I’m sorry, again.”

“It’s okay. Misunderstanding is basically your middle name.” His head lands on my shoulder, and intertwines his hand with mine.

His touch… it makes me wonder if we will ever become something. We definitely aren’t friends, but there aren’t any sexual benefits between us.

“Hinata… what are we?”

“What do you mean?”

“We aren’t friends, but we aren’t friends with benefits either. So, what are we?”

“You like me, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“We can just be two boys that like each other. Doesn’t have to be too serious.”

I love how small he is compared to me.

“Yeah, of course.”

“So, will you escape Dema with me?”

“Only if you have a plan in mind.”

"Then it's settled," He leaps off the bench, finishing it with a ballerina twirl. “I’ll see you later, Kageyama. Meet me at the statue, okay?”

“Yeah, see ya.” A smirk was on his face as he skipped into the building. My heart was skipping from the mild anxiety, and the overflowing love and adoration for him.

Crap, do I love him?

When I got home, I was approached by Miwa before I climbed the stairs. She grabbed my arm and asked, “Are you feeling okay? You don’t look so good.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

She toys with my hair, and pulls out a few strands of my hair without tugging. She shows me and says, “You start to bald when you’re stressed or depressed.”

I gulp and nip at my bottom lip. “I’m fine Miwa, really. Let me know when dinner’s ready.”

She sighs and lets me go. “Fine then.”

I crashed into bed and delved deep into the dark pieces of my mind... and wondered whether leaping off a roof would be an effective plan.

* * *

When I returned to Dema, the time of day was different… drastically different, actually. Moonlight was shining through my pitch black room instead of the monochrome sun rays that usually touch the cemented floors.

I type in my custom pin and exit my part of town, run by Listo. My body gets covered in chills as I heard the vultures rip apart something --or someone-- in the Pit. My walking speed increased when I spotted the familiar puff of orange hair next to the black statue.

Hinata was ready to go, as he had a sack of his things hooked around his shoulder. He motioned me to come over to him when he spotted me, so I walked over to him with my head low.

“Are you ready? You don’t even have your things.” Hinata said when I got near. My tension is through the roof, as well as my anxiety.

“There’s barely anything in my room. Do you have a solid route?”

“I do. C’mon.” We walked past the statue and headed towards Keons’ part of town. It was the most unprotected part of Dema when it came to aggressive vultures. Luckily Hinata and I didn’t belong to Listo’s ward; that’s where most of that stuff belonged.

We silently trotted around the smog towers within the center and headed into Keons' ward. The dim lanterns barely lit the streets, and it turned pitch black when we stopped at an alley.

Hinata opens a hatch, and a gust of wind blows into our faces. "When did you find this?"

"A friend told me. Stay quiet, and stay close." He slid inside first, and I closed the hatch when I got inside.

The floor left an echoed sound of iron when I landed. The only source of light was from Hinata's small lighter.

"I think we're good now. Let's go."

"Are we underneath?" I ask as we walk in the abandoned tunnels.

"I think so, yeah. As long as the bishops don't find us while we're out in the real world, we should be fine."

The bishops… they would be very upset if they found out about our escape. I wonder if Clancy has gotten this far…

"Do you have the journal Hinata?"

"Yup. I doubt you will be able to read it in this darkness, though."

"Only of my talents is reading in the dark." Hinata chuckled and handed me the book.

I opened to the third page and began to read the entry.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲. 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐔𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐮𝐬.

~𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝓎

I gulped as I reread the entry to process it. He escaped… and looked for some torches.

"Hinata, I think we have a clue here. Clancy said something about torches, so there might be a force outside of Dema."

"Like those ones over there?"

When I looked up from the journal, he was frozen. His finger was shaking slightly as he pointed at the bundle of held torches coming closer. The people holding them were many miles away, and their faces were masked.

"W-We should run." Hinata stammered. I take his hand and blow the lighter out.

"Stay close to me." We hide in a small crevice indent in the wall. Both of us could barely fit because of the cramped enclosure, so our hands had to part.

Hinata's hands clutched onto my shirt, and his puppy dog eyes stared into mine. My heart began to palpitate, and heat rose to my cheeks.

So cute!!! I just want to squish his face, he's adorable!

My palpitation episode ended when the masked dangers walked through the tunnel. They were unusually silent, and luckily they didn't notice us.

Then, Hinata blew it with an _extremely loud_ sneeze. 

"Hinata, you idiot!" I hiss with closed teeth, glaring at him. I take it back, he isn't cute at all.

An awkward smile appeared on his stupid face. "Sorry."

"What are you two doing in there?" one of the masked strangers asked, causing both of us to freeze.

Hinata scooted out the space first and ran out of the tunnel. 

"Hey, wait for me boke!" I shouted after him, but my shirt got gripped by the danger.

"Let me go!" Panic decided to set in. What are they going to do to me?

“Calm down kid, we’re only gonna ask a couple of questions.” The man flipped me around, and his narrow eyes switched from intimidation to shock.

“Kageyama, what are you doing here?”

“How do you know my name?”

“What’s going on back there?” another man asked from deep within the tunnel, presumably the leader’s voice.

“Kageyama’s here Captain.”

Nearly everyone crowded around me, their intimidating gaze sending chills down my spine. “Take off your masks, it’s freaking me out.”

“Move aside everyone. You can let go of him Tanaka.”

Tanaka? Wait, is this… the team?

Their leader pushes Tanaka aside and pulls down his mask; as I guessed, it was Daichi.

“I didn’t think you would be here.” he said.

“It’s mutual. Why aren’t you all in Dema?” I wonder where Hinata went… he better get his ass over here.

“We’ll talk when we return to the base camp. We’ll have to split, who’ll take Kageyama back?”

“I can.” A member with silver locks swept over his forehead volunteered. He walked over to me and pulled his mask down too: Suga.

“Wait, what about Hinata? I can’t just leave him out there, it’s dangerous.”

“The only danger around here are the bishops. Come with me.” Suga took my hand, but I retaliated.

“How are the bishops a danger? In any case, I’m not going anywhere without Hinata!”

A pair next to me started to cackle to themselves. “I didn’t think they would be gay as hell in this world too.” a familiar voice said. His voice was bitter and overdosed with sarcasm.

“Me too.” his companion said. I was hoping that those asshats wouldn’t be here, but we can’t have everything.

“He’s not even that far. You can’t see him behind that boulder?” Tsukishima pointed at a boulder from many meters away… I can see a tuft of his infamous orange hair actually.

“I’m blind as hell.” I mumble.

“Let’s separate before the sun rises. Suga, inform Kageyama and Hinata when you get to base.”

“Okay. Let’s go Kageyama, he’ll catch up with us eventually.”

“Fine.” I followed Suga down the trail they were walking on previously, while the rest of them ventured into the tunnel.

It was awkwardly silent. We were surrounded by darkness, our only source of light remaining as Suga’s torch. Crickets filled my ears, as well as the swaying dirt moving underneath our feet.

I’m worried about Hinata, but that idiot might as well starve out there… I’m still offended that the bishops are regarded as a danger by these bandits.

I also have many questions, yet it solves one crucial question: why the rest of them are outside of Dema, and out in the wild.

“Who are you people anyways?” I blurt, causing Suga to gasp, then chuckle.

“What do you mean?”

“You, and the others. Why are Hinata and I the only ones in Dema?”

“We escaped. Haven’t you read Clancy’s journal?”

“Not all of it. Wait, how do you know?” We pause for a moment in the center of the trail.

“I can recognize that cover from a mile away,” He subtly points at the book in my grasp, and I hug it unconsciously.

“He used to be one of us, you know.” he said. “Are there… more of you?”

“Banditos? Yes, there are.” 

Bandito… is that a subspecies in this realm?

“Okay, I’m done hiding.” Hinata’s footsteps shuffled behind us, suddenly giving me the rare shock factor. His presence became visible via the torch, though I wouldn’t be surprised if his hair became a torch because of how vibrant it is.

“Glad you could join us, Hinata.” Suga greeted him. Hinata clutched my arm and asked, “Who is that?”

“It’s Suga. The rest of them are part of the team.” I explained. He took a sigh of relief, but kept his grip on my arm as we walked. Warmth filled my heart as his body heat mixed with mine. It was… _spellbinding_.

“So, where are we going Suga?” he asked.

“The base camp. You’ll meet other Banditos there, and you’ll become one yourself.”

“So this is the outside…” Hinata’s sentence made it sound like it was so breathtaking out here. It’s cool out here, yes, but it’s not too fascinating as far as I can see.

I really miss Dema. I should be out performing my duties and worship the great religion of Vialism, and should NOT be rebelling against my beliefs.

“Kageyama, are you okay?” Hinata asked. I see we reached the base camp; it was large, big enough for five families of four to live here. Tipis and tents circled the entire mountain, and a bonfire was sparking in the center of the camp.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Come with me boys.” We followed Suga into a tent nearby, and we sat next to each other as he sat on the other side. It was relatively neat, and a pile of duct tape was in the far end of the tent.

“Let me put some yellow on you. It will protect you from the bishops.” Suga said, tossing a green olive hoodie with yellow tape attached to it into Hinata’s lap. He ecstatically dons it, quickly saying, “I feel so cool!”

My upperclassman tossed a parka towards me with yellow tape, and I hesitantly put it on. This feels… wrong.

“Why yellow?” I asked.

“It’s the only color that the bishops can’t see. It’s to protect us.”

“Oh.” On the other hand, Hinata looks adorable with that oversized hoodie on him. It just makes me want to hug and protect him, goddamn it!!!

“You look like a hooligan with that parka on, Kageyama.” he said with a smirk. I ruffle his hair and pinch his arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

“For calling me a hooligan, hoodie smurf.”

“What was that?!”

Suga chuckled and said, “Keep it down, people are sleeping. But, feel free to ask any questions you may have.”

“Shit, sorry.” Hinata murmured. I roll my eyes and ask, “What is your objective? Why do the Banditos exist?”

“To keep it short, we’re here to stop the bishops. Their religion, Vialism, is dangerous and has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.”

“I knew they were bad! See Kageyama, I was never wrong in executing this plan.”

I grip my temples as I try to wrap my head around this new information. How has Vialism cost the lives of thousands? That doesn’t make any sense, Vialism is supposed to release those when you reach to the highest possible rank: Lord.

“So, those neon gravestones… are those lives?” I asked, in fear of Suga’s reply.

He nodded silently, and hugged his knees. “Unfortunately. The graves that circle Dema are the tombstones of former citizens who have followed through with the process of Vialism successfully. I’m not sure if either of you know this, but Vialism promotes the idea of committing suicide and impacting those closest to you as harshly as possible.”

I gulped from his lengthy response. So if I reached the next rank, I would be…

Hinata cupped his face and his shoulders began to shake. Quiet sobbing noises erupted, causing me to feel guilty.

“Are you okay Hinata?” Suga asks, lightly touching his knee to solace him. He drops his hands and looks at me… his teary brown eyes ripped my heartstrings out. Did I make him cry?

“I almost lost you, you fucking asshole!” he shouted, weakly punching my chest before collapsing into it. Suga silently motions me to hug him, so I follow his muted instruction.

“I’m sorry.” I croaked. His crying is making me tear up, goddamn it.

“I’ll leave you two.” Suga stepped outside, and I buried my face into his greasy locks… they were soft, but not enough to soak up my tears.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Guilt swept over me like a wave of salt water. I almost left my love for a fucking belief… I’m so selfish!

Hinata’s sobbing slowed down, but mine wouldn’t stop—it was everlasting, like Nunobiki Falls.

His small hands cupped my cheeks and wiped my never-ending tears. Ugly choking and wretched whimpers fell through my chapped lips.

“It’s okay Tobio.” He kissed me passionately, which took me by surprise. I kiss him back and touch his hands for solace.

Shouyou’s palms were warm like fire. His taste struck through me like electricity. His gaze has always danced with laughter, and reflected beautifully when the sun rays reflected on his hazel brown orbs. We were connected by more than just volleyball… I just can’t find a name for it.

We separated when we lost our breath, and lightly pressed our foreheads together. Alligator tears still rolled down my face, but I feel more soothed because of that kiss.

“I love you Tobio.”

I don’t want to leave him. I never will, never ever…

“I swear…” I murmured, slowly opening my watery eyes. His smile grew slightly, and his flawless teeth came through reflexively.

“I love you too Shouyou. I’m not leaving, I swear.”

His eyes began to water again, but I kissed him before he could burst. My force caused him to crash onto the floor, but I don’t think he cares.

Our tongues swirled and clashed as we explored each other’s caverns. A small moan slipped out of him, causing my pants to get tight.

I pulled away for air, and Hinata pushed me back slightly. “Not here. Suga is outside, we’d get caught instantly.”

I roll my eyes and get off of him. “You better promise me a BJ when we get a tent.”

He punched my arm with a huff, exiting the tent before me. I follow him out, and remain silent.

“We’re done now.” Hinata said with an anxious chuckle. Suga returns it and points at a tent next to the bonfire.

“That tent is open for you two. I’ll see you dorks in the morning.”

“Haha, yeah.” I grab Hinata’s hand and rush to the other side of the camp. We got inside and immediately continued what we started.

His legs enveloped my waist, and an adorable whimper slipped out of him when I palmed his erection. “Excited already, huh?”

“It’s your fault for being cute, Bakayama.” HIs voice was gentle, but slightly ill-tempered.

“We’ll see who is being cute in the next few minutes.” I roll up clothes and kiss his stomach, making him giggle… it was hearty.

“Stop teasing me! It tickles!” I continued to butterfly kiss his torso as he giggled like a child.

“This is what you’re going to get if you are going to date me.” I say, pausing for a minute to lock eyes with him.

Fireworks sparked in his eyes when I said so. “You want to date me?”

“You kissed me multiple times. Who’s to say we aren’t?”

“I think I’m going to throw up if you say we’re dating.” I peck his lips and say, “Let’s go to sleep, Shouyou Kageyama.”

A deep blush grew on his face, and he suddenly burst into laughter. “What’s so funny?!”

“It’s nothing, I just didn’t expect you to say something like that. Good night, Tobio Hinata.”

I roll my eyes and get inside of the sleeping bag. Hinata slides into his, and curls up into my chest.

“I’m so happy.” he said before drifting into sleep. I wrap my arm around him and kiss his forehead.

“I love you too Shouyou.”


	4. Promise Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is definitely the shortest chapter of the bunch

“They went into the Bandito camp? What a pain.” Sacarver complained as he combed his horse’s mane.

“They aren’t that big of a deal. They just keep stealing our citizens, it’s such a pain.” Andres said.

“Shut your mouths, let’s go in.” Nico hissed. He whips his horse, steering left as he enters the base camp through the back. Only Sacarve followed Nico inside, as Hinata belonged to him.

Andres was only brought for company sake, as he’s the only bishop with a lick of humor in Dema.

Nico travelled in the center of the camp, unconcerned about the sleeping Banditos around him; the only ones he had to worry about were the ones that took his people, and they were gone for the night.

He got off of his horse and entered Kageyama and Hinata’s tent. Sacarver silently took Hinata and tossed him onto his horse. The ginger slowly woke up, and panicked when he saw Kageyama’s unconscious body being dragged by Nico.

“KAGEYA—“ He was immediately shut up by Sacarver’s hand. He murmured some manipulative speech into his words like an evil guardian angel, causing Hinata to be silent.

Kageyama unfortunately did not hear his half scream, and remained asleep as he was dragged back to the bishop left out of the camp.

Tears streamed down Hinata's face as he sat on Sacarver’s horse. 

He didn’t want to go back to Dema. He didn’t want to be in this world in the first place. All he wanted was to be happy with Kageyama in the real world.

Hinata and Kageyama were thrown at the entrance of the Pit, which made Kageyama finally wake up. It was groggy, but Hinata was successful in waking him when he shook him radically.

“Kageyama, wake up! Wake up!” he shouted as tears rolled down his cheeks. Kageyama’s guard finally showed when he realized he was back in Dema, causing him to hug Hinata.

“Tsk tsk tsk. I thought you were better than this Kageyama.” Listo walked towards him, causing panic to set inside of the runaway raven.

Listo was his god, and he angered him.

“I-I’m sorry Listo!” Kageyama bowed to him, causing Hinata to feel guilty for him. ‘He’s still in the manipulation stage.’

“An apology won’t atone for your sins. In fact, it’s time to wake up.”

Kageyama leaped upward and took Hinata’s hand, making themselves draw back. Hinata gripped onto his arm—which is a reflex at this point— and bit his lip, causing it to bleed.

“What do we do Kageyama? Eep!” he asked softly. The gust of air caused both of them to stop in their steps. Below them was where the punished went when they misbehaved on the same degree as the couple did.

“We jump. It’s the only way.”

Hinata locked eyes with him and intertwined his hands. “Are you sure?”

Kageyama kissed him and pushed themselves down into the pit.

Their heart stricken tears flew into the atmosphere. They felt like they were in slow motion.

“I love you.” were their exchanged words before a loud  _ SPLAT!  _ echoed within the death trap.

“Remember to prepare gravestones for them.” Listo said to Nico.

* * *

That next morning, Mrs. Hinata and Miwa Kageyama were devastated when they found their own blood with slit wrists and a dormant heart.

Shouyou was found in the backyard. The cause of death is unknown, but the slits on his arms are believed to be the cause of his death.

Miwa’s little brother was in worse condition. His body was found in the bath which was filled with ice, and his wrists were still dripping when he was found.

All we know is that both were ruled as a suicide. Everyone close to them was devastated from the news, especially their volleyball team.  They had no idea, and Suga thought that he saved them in the smallest way.

All they hope for is that they are joyful in heaven, and that they will pass on peacefully.

_ In life, they were dedicated _

_ Now, that should be celebrated. _

**Author's Note:**

> the notes from clancy do not belong to me.


End file.
